Someone wrote me the other day to ask me if the Sunday puzzles had, as she suspected, gotten easier lately. I said probably not, or if they had, it was standard variation—perhaps a patch of easyish puzzles, but only in the way we might have a patch of cold or warm weather, i.e. it would all norm out over time. But then I did this puzzle in under 9, and now I'm thinking there may be something to this theory. They have been playing rather easily lately. Someone who tracks times assiduously will be better able than I to see if there is a large-scale trend. I'd still bet against it, but part of me wants to sign on to the conspiracy theory.

I don't have very strong opinions about this puzzle. There are only six theme answers and they are punny in that way that I don't enjoy that much (i.e. they are punny). But the puzzle is what it is, and as this type of puzzle goes, it seems just fine. Easy, but fine. Fill is no worse than most Sundays, perhaps even a little better—lots of longer non-theme answers helps keep the fill from being completely ordinary and dull. ASSYR and OATY and ABAA (an answer I'd totally banish if I could) are weak, but that's not much to complain about. The STNS EEO ASSN block there in the middle is yuck, but again, it's a small patch. Overwhelmingly, the fill is rock solid. I didn't struggle much, but there were a few places that caused me some relative slowage. HAVEN'T was remarkably hard to come up with (67D: Lack). The vague clue (noun? verb?) is likely to blame, at least in part. Also, nobody expects a contraction. No One. Also struggled mightily to come up with THE RAMS. In what sense might they be said (straightfacedly) to be a "pride" (90D: Pride of St. Louis). The Cardinals fit that clue, but THE RAMS? Not lately. Or is a pack of rams called a "pride" now? If so, why are rams hanging out in packs? End times?

Bullets:

52A: Column on a Clue notepad (ROOMS) — flashback-inducing clue. I haven't played this board game (or any board game) in years.

58A: He said "Every great film should seem new every time you see it" (EBERT) — interesting assertion. I'll have to test this out in the near future.

78D: Car make whose name sounds like a Cockney greeting (AUDI) — "Howdy" is a Cockney greeting? I get the dropped "H" thing, but "Cockney greeting" is surprising to me. Either "howdy" is a Cockney expression or there were Cockneys in the Old West. Either way, color me surprised.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

P.S. Lollapuzzoola 6 crossword tournament is coming up on Saturday. If you can't make it to NYC on Saturday, there's a solve-at-home option. Here's a message from tournament co-founder, Brian Cimmet:

Lollapuzzoola 6 is happening in New York City on Saturday, August 10. A day of all-original puzzles designed just for the tournament, bonus games, great fun and friends, and all for just $25 (optional pizza party not included). Or, if NYC isn't in your travel plans, sign up for the At-Home version for just $10. For more on Lollapuzzoola, visit www.bemoresmarter.com, find us on Facebook, or contact tournament co-director Brian Cimmet at brian@bemoresmarter.com. P.S. Rex Parker once described this crossword competition as "easily the best tournament experience I've had to date," if that sort of thing holds any sway. Thanks!- Brian

Serious question: Is it just me or has the Sunday NYT purposely become significantly easier on a relative scale than it was decades ago? In college and law school (early-mid '80s), the Sunday would take me at least an hour, sometimes two, oftentimes DNF. Granted, I've become a much better solver over the course of 30 years as, of course, practice and familiarity breed expertise. Still, I recall the Sunday's of yesteryear being filled with brutally obscure esoterica, while those of today seem, more often than not, to be just "big Tuesdays."

Egad! Just went and actually read @Rex's write up. As the clock struck midnight, I immediately clicked the comments link and started tapping away. I am *not* the one who wrote him to ask the question posed in my first comment tonight, but glad to see others are on the same wavelength.

Rex, I'm sorry but once again I agree with you. And the Pride of St. Louis was about a movie about Dizzy Dean, a famous Cardinal pitcher and why that is clued that way is bizarre. In fact the Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams will likely be leaving St. Louis in a few years.

Sunday puzzles usually take me a long time to complete, mostly because of their size and the teeny, tiny little spaces to fill that don't agree with my eyes. Had dinner guests arriving and wondered how I was going to sling hash, set table, polish silver, and do the puzzle before they arrived. I had three hours to spare, no problem!

@August West - is making some sense!

Loved the puns. Hard to pick a favorite, maybe 40A JUST WENT DOWN. 104A was really cute also.Oh Hell, liked all of them.

I see it in the 'damning with faint praise' that's become so common among the more adept puzzlers that have been here a while---including you, Michael---trying desperately to find something positive to say about a generally popular or at least serviceable constructor, or even making excuses for a less-than-stellar effort. That's the best the Times can offer? That's the best we can say about it?

"Most of the American Values Club puzzles are simply head and shoulders above the average NYT." That's you, Michael, and it's not an unusual commentary anymore.

Meanwhile, new waves of blog participants are cautiously dipping their toes in the water and taking the risk of offering an opinion suggesting that what many of us find to be a sadly easy puzzle was a challenge for them, and they're thrilled to finally finish a Monday with only limited google help....

I rarely discover anything in the puzzle itself worth commenting positively about---usually I derive more pleasure in debating some corollary issue that a puzzle suggests, or teasing a poster who's becoming monotonous, or offering an anecdote (or, yes, a Seinfeld dialogue) that is peripherally sparked by something in the grid.

Maybe it's like the end of a semester, Michael: One class has successfully incorporated all the knowledge you can share and is ready to move on; and a fresh group full of eager anticipation is waiting in the wings.

Perhaps some of us who are growing increasingly cynical and bored should step aside and let the novices run the show here for a while. Perhaps you would be re-energized, Michael. Of course, then the question becomes: Are you the teacher to carry them through the course, or are you equally fatigued and unwilling to bring another class from a to z?

Now and then I see value in the 'empty chair' gambit in group dynamics---in absenting myself here and watching how things progress without my participation. Maybe this is an opportune time to give that another try....

it kinda figures that the puzs would seem to be gettin easier for a solver, as the solver became better at solvin and wiser in the words of the world.

Only 134 words. Uses all the letters, except leaves Q in the holster. Average word is wider than STOUT by half a square. Add 11 U's for garnish. KINGSIZE(d?)BED. RHUBARBPIE. ATADISCOUNT. These are the good ol' days, dude.

I guess this was easy for me, but I found myself stuck several times. Not "in my wheelhouse" I suppose. For example, I didn't know GLASS (or is it G LASS -- find a girl?). Then to me the SLOW LANE is the inside track (I pass on the outside); so that confused me. I get Nineva and Tarshish mixed up. OATY is just plain ugly. Eventually I got it right, so I guess it wasn't so much hard as crummy. In general, today's Sunday puzzles (with some wonderful exceptions) are just long Wednesdays. I too remember them from my youth as long and tricky, but I'm a better solver now.

Thank you Evil! I struggled with a lot of the puzzle, as a relative newby, and was gutted to find all the posts saying what a piece of cake it was. I live in a multicultural society but had never heard of TAJ - even now I can't find it on Google search. Pride of St Louis? The RAMS? Come on! GLASS? What is that? Am I the only one living in a parallel universe? Admittedly the long clues were easy, but some of the little ones were more dreadful English than obscure.

I was on the hallowed ground where the OREO was invented yesterday!Out-of-town friends dragged us on a tour that began at Chelea Markets ,which was the original home of the NAtional BIscuit Company, as many of my fellow NYers probably already know.

Our fun-fact-filled and fabulous tour guide told me something I didn't know, and can't corroborate - the name comes from the "E" of "crEam" sandwiched between the two "O"s of cOOkie.

She is a native NYer,, and occasionally does the puzzle, so she was equally delighted to learn from me about its special place in crossword puzzlers' hearts.

The puzzle? It was OK... Honestly, the themes weren't sparkling, but still fun to use to help solve.

POURS crossing OREO was apropos, as when we were standing on the High Line (fabulous space - do go...), it POUR[s]ed.(I recommend the Foods of NY tour of the Chelsea Markets - ask for Cindy - she was great!)

Thanks Mr. Ginzberg.

(Capcha=scanmen - describes both google & NSA employees. Oh - and how ironic is it that Google has their NY offices just across the street form the OREO birthplace?

"I live in a multicultural society but had never heard of TAJ - even now I can't find it on Google search."

The meaning of "taj" in question comes up as the first sentence of the firt hit (the Wikipedia disambiguation page) in a Google search. I have no idea what you're doing wrong.

"Taj (Persian: تاج‎) is a Persian word that means "crown", and may refer to:"

However, I admit I didn't know either of these two things until after I solved the puzzle. You can get these kind of answers from the crosses. I agree with Rex that it was an easy Sunday, and I'm nowhere near the class of solvers that include the likes of Rex. For me "easy Sunday" means I finished it without outside help in under 20 minutes.

Ok – let’s address a real “corollary ISSUE” here. As someone who TRIES to be all fancy schmancy when I entertain, I like to offer not the requisite grapes on the pretty cheese display, but rather fresh figs and dates A lot of the time my plans are thwarted because I can’t find either anywhere, let alone the CORNER STORE!

@Tita - interesting about OREO!

@jae – you stole my hat line. *And* I always make the same mistakes you do. Always. What’s worse, I see now that I have a big dnf because I accepted “tonaes” as some obscure London weights. Sheesh.

I had “hora” for a while, trying to search my memory and make sure I was INDEED sinuous enough whenever I did it, but then I first had to look up “sinuous.” I’m pretty sure I don’t have that gear when I dance.

Mom won’t like the GOT in HAS STILL GOT BUGS.

I grew up at 3112 OZARK Circle in Chattanooga. “Ice cream truck” had me back there even before OZARK fell. Funny how jarring it is to see that word after all these years. I tell you, remembering the feeling of hearing that LILT stirs a deep nostalgia in me that makes me briefly understand why people write poetry.

Perched in a Sweetgum just climbedI prick my ears to the distant LILTOvercome with thrill, then frantic ecstatic panic. No time!Jump down! Quick! Find her! Scream, “MOM, GIMME A DIME”!!

@M&A - I had the same thought. Did you “iced tea people want KING SIZEd? On a similar note – ever notice how in some states the sign says “Reduced Speed Ahead” kind of like a description, and other states have “Reduce Speed Ahead”- an order?

I’m usually too impatient to finish a Sunday that gives me trouble, and I think that’s still pretty common. Yes, this was EASY, but I’m ok with that. Alert the presses. I don’t know, ED – I inferred from your post that you thought today’s puzzle was bad? I just did an honest INNER questioning, asking myself if I’m always positive because I really feel that way or because I simply can’t bring myself to criticize. My conclusion is that it’s the former 99.99% of the time. Very, very RARELY, there’s a puzzle that I think is kind of bad and on those days, I probably just don’t post anything. But today I studied this grid and I truly think it’s fine. The weak part – ISSUERS, ELITES, GLAZERS, ATTN, PROG, SSRS I’ll forgive for the TASTING, KING SIZE BED payoff. What is more, Steven seems to have channeled Jeff Chen with his terrific long downs. They’re all excellent!

@Rex, your write up today is a perfect mix of praise, negativity, humor and WTF: "Also struggled mightily to come up with THE RAMS. In what sense might they be said (straightfacedly) to be a "pride" (90D: Pride of St. Louis). The Cardinals fit that clue, but THE RAMS? Not lately. Or is a pack of rams called a "pride" now? If so, why are rams hanging out in packs? End times?"

I totally agree about AUDI not being a Cockney "Howdy." I wrote a great big, HUH? in margin. Probably should've written UH?

Ebert's comment is provocative and I believe it's true. Once I get caught up again in an great film it's just as riveting, if not even more so, than the first time I saw it.

This puzzle was cute but over too quickly. I did it last night and, believe it or not, said to myself, "Sunday puzzles just aren't what they used to me. They're too easy, don't have enough fight."

Personally I love a struggle on a Sunday with lots of twists and turns and real AHA moments. Maybe even some circles or connect the dots and ultimately a picture! I'm always looking for something special.

@Tita, that *is* interesting about OREO. I worked on Nabisco cookies and crackers for years and never heard that explanation, though. And every year we'd have a big push to come up with bigger and better OREO campaign. That usually produced a great, catchy jingle or a heartfelt ad with adorable kids unscrewing the OREO for the cream inside. We should've been singing about the name and how it was created!

Back then we had to drive to their offices in New Jersey. Your tour in NYC sounds fascinating ... I want to go!

I guess I'm an outlier - not easy for me and DNF - could not give up ABAB. Part of the challenge came from my self-imposed Sunday solving rule that I have to build from the first cross I get (no skipping around), so that always keeps me in the SLOW LANE. But still couldn't crack the NW no matter how long I stared.

Thought the theme was clever - the devices need repair when they're doing exactly what they're supposed to do - and enjoyed the long downs. Thought the pride of St. Louis would be THE ARCH.

49 minutes on an iPad, with both the NW and SW being especially slow for me.

@Rex, I bet SanFranman59 has an answer. @Auggie, 30 years ago puts you in the Maleska era, where trivial trivia ruled the day. Shortz introduced all sorts of wordplay and tricks into the puzzle. Some commenters miss Maleska, but they are as rare as transuranium elements.

I can’t add much to the Sunday difficulty debate. I’ve been solving regularly for about a year now. At first they all seemed hard and I frequently DNF. Now I usually finish them without refilling the coffee cup. I imagine that’s got more to do with practice than with the puzzles themselves.

Also, I feel like I usually enjoy the puzzles more than some here. Is that because I’m still a relative newbie? I don’t know.

@ Dylan - yes, there are many ABAA quatrains. I didn't question that or the correctness of the answer. There are many beautiful AABA quatrains in the Fitzgerand translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

However, I stand by my assertion that the majority of quatrains are ABAB.

I didn't find this puzzle that easy at all...I just could not get on SG's wavelength for some reason. Had SUNNITE instead of AGAKAHN so that whole area was screwed.There are two foods on this earth that I won't eat - one is RHUBARB and the other is okra. I misspelled RHUBARBPIE so that held me up.Loved the clue for PERU (16D) instead of the old "Lima is its capital." Marmalade sandwiches!!!! A Sunday struggle but I did like the puns.

I'm with those who liked the puzzle and did not think the puns and the long downs needed a REPAIRMAN.

@Rex has a picture of "Gilda". Is that the film he will watch to test out the validity of EBERT's quote, or is it there because Rita Hayworth was married to Aly KHAN, or because she and Glenn Ford were such a hot item that they were paired in "The Loves of Carmen" two years later in which Glenn Ford played Don Jose (but was not a TENOR)??

Evil. I read your comments with amazement that people still do that sort of thing: exit a newsgroup in a holier-than-thou, self-righteous, sanctimonious, and worst of all - condescending way. I can't tell you how many newsgroups I've participated in and witnessed someone doing this, but maybe not with your erudition. It's almost like you're trolling for comments. So I'll bite.

You're obviously a talented, savvy guy, with a twinkly off-beat sense of humor, I always read your posts. Sorry I won't have that opportunity in the future.

How does one get "holier-than-thou, self-righteous, sanctimonious, and worst of all - condescending way" from "Now and then I see value in the 'empty chair' gambit in group dynamics---in absenting myself here and watching how things progress without my participation. Maybe this is an opportune time to give that another try...."? Or am I mis-assigning your observation to @Evil Doug?

I'm generally not a fan of puns, unless they're especially clever, but most of these were fine an (very) mildly amusing way. In initially had a WTF on 77A because I somehow kept reading it as "the quizzing machine", which, of course, isn't a thing.

I was another person who had CORNERSTORE rather than CORNERSTONE, and also had the same thought as Loren in wondering on what corner is there a store that sells dates?

Perhaps because of the corner store/date connection, I had a hard time with the NW (I didn't help myself with having ABAB instead of ABAA). RANGE was not coming to me as a synonym for span, and I couldn't look at UBO_T and not think "u-boat".

Also struggled with the AUDI/RUBLE zone. You know a clue is bad when someone who's an Audi owner (me) can't think of it because, as has been said, "howdy" and Cockneys are not a good fit.

Slogged thru another Sunday and didn't have to admit ti a DNF. Finished in 5 minutes. Oh, pardon me-- that was just for the NW corner( STONE) .I do these puzs partly because I enjoy some challenge and success and partly because I am kind of OCD. Accordingly, a DNF puts me in a bad mood for a while-- but nothing too serious.. I like getting on the blog and seeing how seriously many take some of the posts. I much prefer the very clever and humorous contributions, don' t you?

CORNERSTOrE too. Also tapped into the collective consciousness of "why would I go to the bodega for a date?". Went with it temporarily after the cockney/car/greeting/ AUDI clue because I figured anything was possible after that.

Easy puzzle made more medium because of the bland cluing opening up too many possible interpretations, i.e. my first word went down late for a Sunday puzzle.

Re Sunday puzzles in general. I think they're a gateway drug to buying an online subscription to NYT puzzles. More accessible puzzles on a day more people are apt to do puzzles yield hooked puzzlers and ka-ching.

I would suggest an alternate description of the theme than has been proposed here: The theme answers are phrases that normally apply to things or processes that are broken, but that in the context of the clues are working perfectly. I thought it was interesting that several examples could be found. Kind of inverse irony or something.

I enjoyed the puns but struggled in the NW. Just couldn't see PACES or PURR or ABAA. Had to move on and circle back to it after everything else was filled in. HEAVEd a heavy, self-disappointed sigh upon seeing it rated so EASY by Rex and others.

Corner stoRe: Deli that sells stuff like nuts, raisins -- and dates! At least that was how I justified it to myself. I had not quite figured out how a diR can impede a conversation, but I was working on it.

I agree with DigitalDan's generous interpretation of the theme -- that is much cleverer than it seems at first glance. I really liked this puzzle, and for me it is nice to have a fairly easy one once in a while, so I do not feel so clueless.

This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation and my 10/15/2012 post for an explanation of a tweak I've made to my method. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio, the higher this week's median solve time is relative to the average for the corresponding day of the week.

All solvers (this week's median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)

There are certainly some trends in puzzle difficulty based on the stats that I record. But it's not unambiguous, in part because the sample is not scientific. Here are the trends over the 4 years I've been tracking the data:

Monday: Pretty consistent over all 4 years.

Tuesday: Slight increase in solve times over all 4 years, but quite consistent since last September.

Wednesday: Slight increase over all 4 years, but decreasing steadily since peaking last October.

Thursday: Kind of similar to Wednesday except not as much of a decrease since last fall.

Friday: Decreasing trend in solve times over all 4 years. However, there was a pretty significant increasing trend from about May 2012 to March 2013. Since that peak, there's been a sharp decreasing trend in solve times.

Saturday: Overall decreasing trend in solve times, but there's been somewhat of an increase in solve times since the beginning of 2013.

Sunday: I've only been tracking Sunday puzzles since March 2011. This is the one day where there seems to be no trend. The trend line is remarkably flat.

Easy? Not when I'm operating on 3 hours sleep in 2 days. Worked on this sporadically while killing time in 2 different airports after a cancelled flight (we were taking off when screech....the brakes came on) and many delays in 're-booking'. Home now, and the NW that had eluded me practically filled itself in.

As to the puzzle, had AyAtola for too long (yeah, I know, spelling is an issue). I love puns, the cornier the better. The oh no head slap groan response tickles me.

I didn't find it all that easy. A bit of a slog, actually. Even by the usual 21x21 standards, this grid is exceedingly choppy. The resulting high word count simply has to engender some icky fill, so I won't browbeat Mr. G. on that score. The theme entries are very clever; thumbs up on all--save for the awkward construction of "...HAS...GOT..." in 53a. Long downs are marvelous. The slog factor was, mostly, a result of typical endweek cluing. I do NOT agree that recent Sunday fare has become soft (MELTed?). I think it pretty much hits the mark: doable enough to enjoy, but no pushover.

I did note a THE/THE crossing at sq. 90, but one's part of a familiar phrase and the other precedes a team name, so the flag stays in the pocket today (If it was Chicago, though, it'd have to be DABEARS). @ed, don't go! I'm not ready to accept full curmudgeonship yet!

My favorite are the themes on Sundays with plays on words. I laugh when I get them and run in and tell my wife how funny they are.

As a semi retired engineered I prefer puzzles that require logic and yes "guessing" to complete the fill. Despite the fact I have been doing them for years I don't have a good memory for obscure poets, directors, authors, actors, music or mythology.

I discovered this blog some weeks ago and enjoy the comments. I wonder if some people get so good at the NYT puzzles they bored and drop out? Do the participants change a lot?

I doubt ever to get that good and in the meantime - keep up the good work Mr. Ginzburg

I haven't started the puzzle yet (I'm still working on yesterday's prime-time puz - it's not looking good for the home team) but I just wanted to drop by to remind syndi-sky watchers that the Perseid meteor shower peaks early tomorrow morning through Tuesday morning. Forecasters predict up to 100 meteors per hour so get out there to watch for "shooting stars". (Apologies if anyone has already mentioned this but I can't read the comments lest they spoil the puzzle. I'll be back!

I love punny puzzles - I usually look to Frank A. Longo's Premier Crossword to provide my fix but he's been playing it straight lately so I was glad to see some in today's NYT puz. I finished with the CORNERSTOrE error that plagued others - I blame the recent puzzle that had that as a theme.

What is it about the Great Northwest that turns my mental gears to mush? DNF'd there yesterday and worked oh so deliberately through it today while watching the Rockies eke one out from the Pirates. My very last fill was square 1, and that was at least a half hour after getting the DIN-DIR-CORNERSTONE thing sorted out. Both PURR and PACE were out in the void circling Neptune until I ran the alphabet.

Guess everyone else knew that ESTOP is a legal thingie, and I'm sure I've come across it in xwds before. I was thinking some kind of foot rail to rest on while slugging your G&T. When I was a kid KEPI meant head, as in "Careful, don't bump your kepi." I figured it was Yiddish. Had STONES for TONNES. At 98A I thought, "Did they do a remake of POPEYE"? Made sense for a while, anyway.

Roger EBERT did a 5-day Cinema Interruptus for close to 40 years at the Univ. of Colorado's Conference on World Affairs -- even after he'd lost the ability to speak. His favorite movie was "La Dolce Vita" and he screened it numerous times and talked about how its meaning changes as your age and situation change. I went to a whole lot of these and learned a whole lot from him. We really miss him.

Hand up for the St. Louis Arch - my iniital fill-in in that spot until crosses knocked it out. And hand up for the DNF at CORNERStORE -- I thought it was a clever answer about buying food and possibly running into a beau Although I wasn't sure what 'din' was and...it wasn't!

Loved loved the puns, and their relationship to the question posed, so was impressed with S. Ginsburg's construction.

However, did not finish....... my 47a was Attain so brain could not get around what needed fixing until coming here. Also, me too, for cornerstore as I know some cornerstores here do sell dates among other things such as halva, etc.

Perseids, for us,was last week and, for another year, we were in a place with too much reflected light. Next year we are camping out in the bush.